As summer winds down, the challenges impacting health care employers in 2019 continue to heat up. These challenges include ongoing developments regarding marijuana legalization, employee resistance to vaccination mandates, workplace violence prevention, state health insurance mandates, and more. In this issue of Take 5, we address these key developments and provide recommendations for action.
Despite recent welcome news to the home health agency (“HHA”) industry in Florida, Illinois, Michigan, and Texas following an end to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS’s) long-standing HHA provider enrollment moratoria, CMS subsequently announced that it would place some newly enrolled HHAs in a provisional period of enhanced oversight. The purpose of the enhanced oversight period and the corresponding additional restrictions placed on certain HHAs is to help CMS address and closely monitor fraud, waste, and abuse concerns in the HHA industry, thus signaling CMS’s ongoing industry-wide scrutiny.
Did you know that your zip code is a better predictor of your health than your genetic code? Public health experts – and your health insurance provider – have long known that the air you breath, the education you receive, your net worth, and even the music that you listen to are strong indicators of your overall health – and the possibility that you might need expensive medical procedures in the future. By some measures, up to 50% of your overall health is determined by social, economic, and environmental factors. As the movement to value-based payment continues in health care, there has been a renewed focus from policymakers and payors on “social determinants of health” in an attempt to curtail health care costs by addressing the root problems of poor health; before the patient is at-risk and when the interventions may be cheaper than medical care.
Earlier this year, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed into law HB7099 and SPB7028(collectively referred to as the “Bills”), ratifying emergency rules that require nursing homes and assisted living facilities to acquire alternative power sources- such as generators- and fuel in preparation of the upcoming hurricane season. See Rule 59A-4.1265and Rule 58A-5.036. These rules were enacted after 14 residents died from heat-related illnesses and complications during Hurricane Irma last year when a Florida nursing home lost power to its air conditioning units for three days.
Earlier this year, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed into law HB7099 and SPB7028 (collectively referred to as the “Bills”), ratifying emergency rules that require nursing homes and assisted living facilities to acquire alternative power sources- such as generators- and fuel in preparation of the upcoming hurricane season. See Rule 59A-4.1265 and Rule 58A-5.036. These rules were enacted after 14 residents died from heat-related illnesses and complications during Hurricane Irma last year when a Florida nursing home lost power to its air conditioning units for three days.
A variety of traditional and non-traditional investors are starting to capitalize on the stability of the Medicare Advantage Program and expansion of the Medicare Advantage Health Plan Market. These companies are leveraging sophisticated technological interfaces, data, and telemedicine to help improve the patient experience and to maximize the Triple Aim.